There are many times I start dreaming about creative work I'd like to do, and then find myself thinking: don't worry, you'll get to it later. Then I go make a snack, start watching Netflix, and then all of a sudden, I'm asleep. Then it's the next morning and I have to go to work.

The point? If you're like me, you won't get to it later.

I think we tell ourselves this creative lie because we have a fuzzy view of what constitutes time well spent creating.

I used to think if I was going to do any creative project I needed to settle in and stay chained to my desk until I had something massive, airtight, and perfect produced. The result? I never started the work I needed to start because my vision of what it looked like was too intimidating.

What I learned is that I need to change my vision of creative time well spent.

Expecting yourself to write a 500 page novel? Start with a paragraph.

Expecting yourself to compose a 5 part symphony? Start with a motif.

Expecting yourself to do a 45 piece photo essay? Take one or two pictures.

And so on, and so on....

Because as the old saying goes:

Q. How do you eat an elephant?

A. One bite at a time.

This is a disassembled typewriter.

How did it get built? One tiny piece at a time.

Just how the elephant was eaten.

So there you have it. Go eat an elephant. Go build a typewriter. Go create something small every day. Until it becomes something massive.